1 And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2 And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars:but ye have not obeyed my voice:why have ye done this?
3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
4 And it came to pass, when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 5 And they called the name of that place Bochim:and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.
6 And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 7 And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that he did for Israel. 8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers:and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:12 And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. 13 And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them:and they were greatly distressed.
distressed:
- suffering from anxiety, sorrow, pain
- impoverished (made poor/exhaust strength & vitality)
16 Nevertheless the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them:they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord; but they did not so.
18 And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge:for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
20 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 21 I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:22 That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 23 Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.
(In Judges 1, we see several of the tribes of Israel who did not drive out the other nations and lived in cities with other nations. These would be problems for Israel.)
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Comments by Joan Boney
Isaiah 1:26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
After Jesus arose, he gave "gifts" to the church. After the resurrection of Jesus ministry offices were given to the church. Eph. 4 ... 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
The ministry office of apostle is like the judges of the OT. Apostles work to set correct doctrine in place in the church. Antichrist sets false doctrine and removes correct doctrine to allow the people to exalt themselves in the churches and live in sin and feel approved in their sin.
NT apostles, establish correct doctrine.
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God said to Joshua:
5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life:as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee:I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be strong and of a good courage: Joshua 1
When the people obeyed God and followed HIM, they overcame their enemies and destroyed the nations and their gods. God was with them when they feared HIM and obeyed HIM. No man could stand before them. And all the nations feared them because God was for them and by the works those nations saw God was with these people.
My cousin's husband, who was a medical doctor and highly praised by men of the world, said he was afraid of me. (as he should be) He did not mean this as a compliment but I knew it was a compliment for I did not worship him and his wisdom as others around him worshiped him and he knew I didn't.
My cousin told me they visited a small Church of Christ group while traveling across country and she said, "I wish you could have been there to see them honor Charles (her husband)."
It was a terrible thing to hear that a church group would honor a man this way and make respect of persons this way in the congregation.
Charles is dead now.
My cousin told me again, the last time we spoke by phone, that Charles was afraid of me. Again this was not meant as a compliment but as condemnation toward me.
I said nothing to her. But I know no man (or woman) can stand before me for I know God causes this by giving me HIS word which I speak from HIM. And when I speak, they hate me though they call Jesus their Lord. Their father is really the devil. If Jesus were their Lord, they would love me for the words I speak are from HIM. They hate me and they hate HIM though they call him Lord. I know this.
When we are of God and carry HIS word in us and speak of HIM, the world will hate us as they hate HIM. And they will be afraid of us and hate to see us coming toward them. They will flee us when they can. This is a way of life in Christ for us. Because through us they see their sin or sense their sin and the light from us shines on their darkness and exposes them and they are made very uncomfortable by us.